Blaine Predictably Blunt in Criticism of Overdraft Reg

RALEIGH, N.C.- State Employees Credit Union CEO Jim Blaine is a noted opponent of the way the government is handling overdraft disclosures, and his comment letter made a statement loud and clear. “Fascinated by the “Alice-in-Wonderland” thinking which proclaims “courtesy overdraft” and “bounced-check protection” advances are not loans,” he wrote. “The serpentine semantics and contorted logic of the Federal Reserve opinion are most unconvincingly pretzelian! “A consumer sham, a regulatory mockery of the first order.” Blaine’s letter concluded with “Never has `Truth in Savings” been less so.’ In addition, a coalition of consumer advocacy groups consisting of the National Consumer Law Center, Consumer Federation of America, Consumers Union, National Association of consumer Advocates, and the Woodstock Institute submitted comments to all the federal financial institution regulators opposing the rule. “While we appreciate the Board’s and other banking regulators’ efforts to address bounce loans, they are simply not enough. Consumers need real protections against the abuses of bounce loans,” the letter read. “TILA disclosures and coverage are a necessary minimum in that effort. The banking regulators also need to institute additional, enforceable consumer protections. Banks should be required to make the same disclosures and obtain the same affirmative consent that payday lenders, pawnshops, and finance companies do.” -